Tweet
REP. SCHIFF: OTTOMAN EMPIRE TRIED TO DESTROY AN ENTIRE PEOPLE BUT FAILED
PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 - 18:41 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors,
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and Crescenta Valley Town Council
President Cheryl Davis and Councilmember Harry Leon remembered on
Tuesday, April 24, the lives lost from 1915 to 1923, MontrosePatch
reports.
Descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors stood surrounded by
students, parents and local leaders in Montrose to remember the 1.5
million genocide victims from 1915 to 1923 under the Ottoman Empire,
present day Turkey.
Armenian Sisters Academy students placed flowers along the re-created
Tsitsernakaberd, a memorial in Yerevan, Armenia that honors Armenian
Genocide victims.
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) spoke Tuesday to locals about
the importance of remembering the 97th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide.
"The Ottoman Empire tried to destroy an entire people, they tried to
destroy a beautiful, historic, accomplished, and loving people and
they failed," Schiff said.
"The evidence of that failure could not be more graphic than what
we see here today [with] these beautiful children who are learning
the Armenian language, who are learning Armenian history, who are
practicing the faith of their parents and grandparents and great
grandparents for many, many generations," Schiff said.
"It is our responsibility to pray for those who perished, to remember
them, to speak plainly about what they endured, to speak the truth
to those who would deny genocide," Schiff said.
He said it was the community's responsibility to stay dedicated to
ending genocide.
"I hope that our president will rise to the occasion and speak plainly
about genocide, that our country will speak plainly about genocide. It
has never been our national interest to become complicit in a campaign
of denial. It is not now and it never will be," he said.
Crescenta Valley Town Council President Cheryl Davis and Councilmember
Harry Leon came to the commemoration with a proclamation to commemorate
April 24 as a Day of Rememberence of the Armenian Genocide.
Arick Gevorkian of the Crescenta Valley Armenian Community & Youth
Center spoke about genocide in the world and why people should still
remember the Armenian Genocide.
"Genocide is a crime against humanity, and there is no statute of
limitations on genocide - not even 97 years. At the time the Armenian
Genocide was being carried out, the Allies called it "a crime against
humanity and civilization."
"History is too important to leave to historians," Gevorkian said. "By
leaving the Armenian injustice of World War I uncorrected, the stage
was set for the Holocaust of World War II."
Gevorkian explained how following the Armenian Genocide, genocides
have happened in other countries during the 20th Century, including:
Darfur, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Chad, Haiti, Sudan, Burundi, Liberia,
Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Congo.
He hopes that the Armenian community will continue to remember the
Armenian Genocide, and in this spirit, work to prevent genocides
around the world.
"I get emotional on [Genocide] commemoration because it has become
part of our fabric, it has become part of our souls," Gevorkian said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 - 18:41 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors,
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and Crescenta Valley Town Council
President Cheryl Davis and Councilmember Harry Leon remembered on
Tuesday, April 24, the lives lost from 1915 to 1923, MontrosePatch
reports.
Descendants of Armenian Genocide survivors stood surrounded by
students, parents and local leaders in Montrose to remember the 1.5
million genocide victims from 1915 to 1923 under the Ottoman Empire,
present day Turkey.
Armenian Sisters Academy students placed flowers along the re-created
Tsitsernakaberd, a memorial in Yerevan, Armenia that honors Armenian
Genocide victims.
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) spoke Tuesday to locals about
the importance of remembering the 97th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide.
"The Ottoman Empire tried to destroy an entire people, they tried to
destroy a beautiful, historic, accomplished, and loving people and
they failed," Schiff said.
"The evidence of that failure could not be more graphic than what
we see here today [with] these beautiful children who are learning
the Armenian language, who are learning Armenian history, who are
practicing the faith of their parents and grandparents and great
grandparents for many, many generations," Schiff said.
"It is our responsibility to pray for those who perished, to remember
them, to speak plainly about what they endured, to speak the truth
to those who would deny genocide," Schiff said.
He said it was the community's responsibility to stay dedicated to
ending genocide.
"I hope that our president will rise to the occasion and speak plainly
about genocide, that our country will speak plainly about genocide. It
has never been our national interest to become complicit in a campaign
of denial. It is not now and it never will be," he said.
Crescenta Valley Town Council President Cheryl Davis and Councilmember
Harry Leon came to the commemoration with a proclamation to commemorate
April 24 as a Day of Rememberence of the Armenian Genocide.
Arick Gevorkian of the Crescenta Valley Armenian Community & Youth
Center spoke about genocide in the world and why people should still
remember the Armenian Genocide.
"Genocide is a crime against humanity, and there is no statute of
limitations on genocide - not even 97 years. At the time the Armenian
Genocide was being carried out, the Allies called it "a crime against
humanity and civilization."
"History is too important to leave to historians," Gevorkian said. "By
leaving the Armenian injustice of World War I uncorrected, the stage
was set for the Holocaust of World War II."
Gevorkian explained how following the Armenian Genocide, genocides
have happened in other countries during the 20th Century, including:
Darfur, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Chad, Haiti, Sudan, Burundi, Liberia,
Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Congo.
He hopes that the Armenian community will continue to remember the
Armenian Genocide, and in this spirit, work to prevent genocides
around the world.
"I get emotional on [Genocide] commemoration because it has become
part of our fabric, it has become part of our souls," Gevorkian said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress